Giving it the gears

[cooldad]

Recently I replaced my shift coupler as I could no longer shift into 1, 2 or reverse.  In fact I have had trouble shifting into reverse before, and often thought maybe it was just me.  I was able to drive to the Tuesday meeting as a result!  Don suggested I post the photos for others interest.

The first photo shows the shifter in place before I got ambitious.

[cooldad]

Here is the front end of the shift rod that the ball end of the shifter sits in.

[cooldad]

Here is the old shift coupler in place attached to the back end of the shift rod.

[cooldad]

Some photos showing the old and new shift couplers side by side. New coupler purchased at CIP 1

[cooldad]

Here is the new part attached to the transmission rod but not quite attached to the shift rod itself. Note the wire securing the set bolt in place.

[cooldad]

You can see the new part is built well and the old part was very worn out. It likely was original and was in my 1972 Bus so pretty old. Anyhow I can shift better than I ever have been able to so the repair was a success!

[magikbus]

Great, thatks for the pics. I'm in the process of trying to adjust my front shift rod placement on the deck. It's an old automatic so the two nuts on the bottom of the deck aren't welded on, so adjusting them is a pita.
Stan

[Volktales]

That coupler does look heavier duty than most of the aftermarket replacement ones I have seen. I always try to reuse the original VW metal parts if they are OK, and replace the wearing rectangular bushing pieces only. Not an option for your situation however...

[cooldad]

I was impressed with it. It was also a tight squeeze getting it to slide into the rod. Didn't think it would for a while. Amazing what perseverance (and swearing) can accomplish.

[Volktales]

Swearing is one of the most important tools in the box! 

[busaddict]

Don was right, very educational. That is one job I've never had to do but wondered about. In my spares box I carry a couple of plastic/nylon shim things that I was told are part of the shift coupler, is that part of what is going on there? Thanks!

[cooldad]

Well I am not sure about the shims that you have but perhaps they could be jammed into the coupler to firm it up for a short time (just to get yourself home). Or they may be meant to replace the end pieces of the coupler as Russ was mentioning. If you look at my old coupler and zoom in on the pin that connects the coupler to the shift rod you can see how it is quite dented in. The old coupler is also broken (you can see the metal is actually opened up), all of which allows a lot of motion at the gear shift. Before the repair, my gear shift had a huge range of motion and as a result I could not actually move the shift rod properly at the transmission end to get the lower gears. By taking away all the slack with the new part it felt odd at first to say the least but shifts great. My next little repair will be to try to re-do the plastic bushings along the length of the rod which are all gone. It will be like brand new after that!!

[PICTUP]

Thanks for posting all this up Chris, really good info! That "little repair" might be a bit more involved than most realize as it requires pulling the engine and transmission. I think all would agree that job isn't so little, but as you elude to, in these old Buses it needs doing in most of them to complete the process of shifting renewal. Again, great to see some posts from others working on their rides.

Cheers,
Don

[1hotvw]

I have never had to pull engine trans to change shift coupler. detach at trans, move shifter, off it pops, pull back remove from shift rod. reverse to install. trail fit incase you need to remove some material from new coupler or clean up end of hockey stick.

[Volktales]

Actually he was referring to changing the bushings for the shift rod as the next job.